Government HR directors axed after capability reviews

HR directors at four government departments that recently underwent ‘capability reviews’ will all lose their jobs, Personnel Today has learned.

The HR directors at the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) and the Department for Education and Skills have already left their posts, while the HR directors at the Home Office and Department for Work and Pensions will soon move on.

Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, is making all government departments undergo the capability reviews to analyse in depth where the civil service is failing to deliver.

When the first round of reviews was concluded in July, HR was found seriously lacking in all but the DCA, although senior leadership and staff engagement were flagged up as being in need of attention.

The Cabinet Office will soon begin a recruitment campaign to fill the posts.